Anne’s Plunge

From Presidential committee member to Congresswoman to inept Gubernatorial candidate… The mighty has fallen.

From Cyber Hillbilly:

1999… eight years ago… seems like a lifetime ago. George W. Bush was the Governor of Texas and the likely GOP nominee to take on the Clinton establishment in what would turn out to be one of the tightest Presidential elections in history. Osama Bin Laden was a name that most Americans would have been hard pressed to remember.

In Kentucky, Ernie Fletcher was a freshman Congressman trying to learn the ropes. Mitch McConnell, then as now, was the most successful politician in recent Kentucky history. And Anne Northup was already playing politics on a national stage. By March 1999, George W. Bush, aided by a savvy team of Republicans intent on retaking the White House, was looking to send the right message about his candidacy. He was a different sort of Republicans, his advisors suggested.

He was much more caring about issues of poverty and much more religious than many in the GOP. In fact, he would blend the two themes together to create the idea of compassionate conservativism; that is, the use of government resources to subsidize the secular charitable activities of churches under the premise that these groups could better help move people out of poverty than bureaucracies could. To set the right tone, part of what Governor Bush needed was a stellar A Team of political figures who would endorse him, support him, and lend their credibility to his endeavor. These pols would be vetted for their skill, for their accomplishments, and for the message they sent to American voters. Enter the Presidential Exploratory Committee.

The committee consisted of 10 prominent Republicans. George Schultz and Condi Rice, former and future Secretary’s of State; Haley Barbour, former RNC Chairman and future Governor of Mississippi; Michigan Governor John Engler, later a cabinet member; Georgia Senator Paul Coverdell; and Anne Northup, to name a few. That Northup would be included in such illustrious company by one of the most sophisticated Presidential candidates and campaigns in recent memory is yet another testament to her skill. This is a message that doesn’t always come out about Northup.

You hear her (in my mind valid and fair game) criticisms of the Governor. In the blogosphere you'll hear the shrill, albeit sycophantic, Fletcher supporters whining "unfair", and claiming that they still don’t know what Northup stands for despite the fact that they, as self appointed GOP experts should be expected to know such things. But what you don't hear about are Anne Northup's accomplishments, here life story, her family story, and, most importantly in a political race, her political skills and accomplishments. Hopefully before the race is over most voters will become acquainted with Northup’s success story. It’s a story of impressive accomplishments in many walks of life… not the least of which is politics.